F1: FIA Sets Date for McLaren's Hungary Appeal

The FIA has announced that the International Court of Appeal will meet on Wednesday September 19 in Paris to consider McLaren's Hungarian GP penalty.

The hearing will take place three days after the Belgian GP and six days after McLaren attends another gathering concerning the spy scandal.

In Hungary Fernando Alonso was docked five places on the grid for his indiscretion in qualifying, while McLaren forfeited any constructors' points it might score in the race. The grid penalty was black and white and the team could do nothing about it, but it immediately served notice of its intention to appeal on the loss of points.

Lewis Hamilton won the race and Alonso finished fourth, so the team lost a not insignificant 15 points in its fight against Ferrari. There are three more races before the appeal is heard, and it remains to be seen whether the gap - currently 19 points -increases or decreases during that time. Indeed, mathematically McLaren could already have clinched the championship, if its advantage is more than 54 points after Spa.

The danger with any appeal is that if the team loses the original penalty might actually be increased.

Stay on top of the ever-changing face of sports car racing each month in RACER. Peter Brock relates how Audi and Peugeot's diesel duel at Le Mans is changing the technical landscape in our September issue, on sale now.